RUSSIA: Delusion on Sunday

RUSSIA
Delusion on Sunday
Comrades, these are not merely
electionsthis is also a holiday.

J. Stalin

In a holiday spirit, Russia was preparing for its quadrennial national
elections next Sunday. Factory workers were spurred on to back-breaking
Stakhanovite feats, the customary holiday offering. Thousands of
agitators swarmed out from thousands of agit points to address rallies
as if there were actually issues that could be decided by the voters.

A Russian election is ostensibly run by a 27-man central electoral
committee connected with a network of regional and local committees
that spreads into...